So the question I have is once someone feels that they are trained how does someone track down and get paid for fighting? Its one of those things I cant figure out.
miyagi-san.net after u register u get a decoder ring in the mail
Start with amateur fights and not getting paid.
You should meet people at your gym. Just talk to guys, they’ll have connections.
I don’t want to bust your balls or ruin your dreams, but if you aren’t training at an established gym with a legit trainer who knows how and where to find you fights, you probably shouldn’t be fighting; especially professionally.
[quote]Melvin Smiley wrote:
I don’t want to bust your balls or ruin your dreams, but if you aren’t training at an established gym with a legit trainer who knows how and where to find you fights, you probably shouldn’t be fighting; especially professionally.[/quote]
+1. If you are ready, someone will be telling you that you are ready and the offers will be there.
Thanks for the replies except the decoder ring comment that was just kind of stupid. This was more of a curiosity question then anything, I do agree that if I am not training at a dojo I probably would just get beaten down hard. I�??d love to go to one I just can�??t afford a dojo membership these days, looks like I will have to wait and save till I�??m out of college.
However I went to a very good Tia Quan Do, and self defense dojo for 2 years before I was interested in getting into MMA . I’ve self training since then, to perfect what I learned. This might all sound worthless but I did have a foundation to build on.
most excellent. ta kwon do foundation for mma.
that’s like saying getting pounded in the ass in jail gave you a good foundation to impress the ladies in the sack once u’re out.
but seriously, you should be able to research local fight events in your area. they usually just require a sign up fee and you get your 15 min of fame.
I stopped reading at
You don’t go in a ring with Muhammed Ali, when you think you know how to fight.
Actually, if you go by a gym and talk to the head trainer he might be looking for bodies for a “smoker” or amatuer event that you could participate in. Unfortunately, you would probably end up getting smoked if you are not training in a gym…although you might be one of those physically gifted individuals who could step in and fight no problem.
There are a lot of things that go into fight preparation, a lot of things that you learn only through participating in a match such as how to pace yourself, when to go balls out, who you should have cornering you, strategy, how much advice you should listen to and blah blah blah.
I wouldn’t recommend fighting until you find a trainer. On the risk/reward side of the scale, major injuries could occur in such a match, especially if the guy reffing it isn’t on top of everything and you aren’t very familiar with submissions and such (ie-a heel hook which might not hurt until the guy applies pressure and rips your knee)
Even with training and a legit production you could get hurt…sometimes permanently. I’m all for being hardcore, but would you really want to risk it before you actually began training extensively?
[quote]Liquid447 wrote:
most excellent. ta kwon do foundation for mma.
that’s like saying getting pounded in the ass in jail gave you a good foundation to impress the ladies in the sack once u’re out.
but seriously, you should be able to research local fight events in your area. they usually just require a sign up fee and you get your 15 min of fame.[/quote]
well there goes my favorite pick up line. And yeah, most promotions are in the market for new guys to fight their new guys…but usually their new guys are guys that have been training in their gym for awhile and have been deemed ready.
Of course, having attended my fair share of smaller shows, a lot of the guys in them are not quite ready for what they face once they’re thrown into the ring and it’s sometimes ugly yet entertaining.
NEVER BACK DOWN!!!
I have never seen an independently trained fighter do well in a fight. It has certainly happened but almost every time the trained person wins. Surprise surprise.
Basically, get in a gym and your trainer should lead you through the steps.
Typically you get a manager who is many times also your trainer or a fight promoter. This person signs you up for fights because they know all the people in the community etc.
If this question of yours is more than mere pontification then I suggest you join your schools wrestling team or find some sort of grappling training along with some sort of legitimate striking training.
Almost no amount of tai kwon do will prepare you for MMA, as the name implies.
Unless you are handily beating many people at an established “training facility” or gym then do not go in the ring. If your are handily beating people in a “dojo” then you might want to go and train at other places to see if you have the same parts there. I find that places labelling themselves dojo’s don’t often contain a high quality of training partner. that or an orientation towards training for a fight. But who knows.
-chris
As someone that made a large part of their living promoting mma and managing fighters for some years, I have a bit of a different view then most.
The best advice I can give you right now - STOP LOOKING FOR A FIGHT. If you are training yourself, with a tkd background - unless you were a div1 wrestler or something that you are not telling us, odds are you are not ready.
Not saying you not a tough guy, or you can’t fight - you just really can’t gauge your level by training yourself, and you are very likely to get mauled in the ring.
I wouldn’t let a fighter that I managed start fighting until they had at least 3 yrs training at a solid gym, and a lot of them weren’t ready then.
Here is what I would recommend you do if you really want a shot in the cage - 1st, listen to avocado. 2nd, find a quality school - not a traditional martial arts dojo, but a fighting gym. One that works western boxing, wrestling and submission fighting at the minimum. You will want a gym that has active mma fighters, and skilled trainers. There a lot of mc-dojos and thugs that claim to be fighters, so be careful and find a good one. Train with them for a bit, and then judge yourself against their ammy fighters - it will be a huge awaken for you.
3rd - Get the “getting paid” out of your mind. You are not a professional athlete at this point, and certainly don’t need to be facing professional talent - your purse won’t cover the medical bills are you looking at if you don’t follow this advice.
Where in IL are you? There are a lot of great schools in IL - esp in the Chicago area.
Don’t take offense to what I say, I have a lot of respect for the traditional arts. BUT THEY ARE NOT PREPARING YOU FOR MMA. There is a reason that very very few fighters are successful at a professional level with only a traditional background - in fact, I can’t think of a single one.
^^Machida, GSP, CroCop, etc
a lot of the k-1 guys who started in kyokushkin.
XEN Nova, read a little more carefully. I did not say people that started in a traditional background - I said people with “ONLY” a traditional background. Many many mma fighters start in the traditional arts - but few stay there.
Alot of them carry the pride of their traditional arts through their career, but I really can’t think of one that still only trains in a traditional style.
Machida and GSP both have world class submission grappling skills - and those skills did not come from traditional dojos.
Crocop had been both in the military and worked in the anti-terrorism unit of the Croatian Police force, he may have started in a traditional form as well, but he had years of training in a wide variety of combat and fighting styles.
There is a reason that Machida, GSP, and Crocop all got away from the traditional training and starting working with a mixture of martial arts.
[quote]Avocado wrote:
I suggest you join your schools wrestling team or find some sort of grappling training along with some sort of legitimate striking training.
Almost no amount of tai kwon do will prepare you for MMA, as the name implies.
-chris[/quote]
I agree with both of these statments
Myself being in Tang soo Do for most of my life (since age 4) I do know that it does teach you some of the mechanics behind strikes but it does not teach you how to fight instead it teaches you how to defend well enough to be able to get away
MMA or any other true fighting sport your not going to get away your whole objective is opposite
find a place to learn jujitsu and get into boxing
well basicly anything you can get your self into
learn how to hit and be able to get hit basicly
the gracies would just fight on the streets every night… that was their dojo…
just a thought.
i trained at american top team for a while… if you saw how they trained you’d realize how badly you need to train with a group of fighters, every day, for months…
peace
EDIT: for months/years…